Mystic Fire
by Grovyle Knight
Summary: Kisu and Windblaze were the best of friends -until the two were separated by a vicious Pokemon Hunter's quest for power. Can Windblaze race against time to save Kisu from the Hunter's evil plans? ArcaNine. INFINITE HIATUS! Old fic.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This is my first pairing fic, so it may not be all that great. I love Arcanine and Ninetales, and I just had a random idea and decided to put it on paper - er, a Word document. Since I'm writing five stories at the same time, it may take me a while to update this (probably around every two weeks or so), since some of the other ones are higher priority. By the way, it's really _Romance/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Tragedy_. xD Anyway, enjoy! =)**

**EDIT: Kit's name has been changed to Kisu. Seems like 'Kit' is a popular name for a certain kitsune Pokemon... (See awesome story _Pilot Lights_) Whatever, I think Kisu fits better in my story anyhow. Also, I realized that my story is AR (Alternate Reality), as will be evident in the next few chapters. If you don't like it, don't read it. =P**

**Rating Info: Rated T for gore, violence, mild-to-medium language, romance, and use of weapons. No adult themes though.  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Nintendo, Pokemon, Arcanine/Windie, Ninetales/Kyukon, or any other related characters. I do own any OCs (Original Characters); however, I do not own the Pokemon characters they may or may not be based on.  
**

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_Mystic Fire_

_Prologue_

"That was great, Kisu! Now it's my turn!" the Growlithe yipped.

"Ooh, what're you gonna be, Windblaze?" the Shiny Vulpix chirped eagerly.

"Hmm…" The striped puppy Pokemon pondered the simple question with childlike innocence before coming to the conclusion, "I'll be… Tyranitar! Rrraaawrr!!" Windblaze snapped at the golden Vulpix fiercely, and pounced on her.

After tumbling around for a while, Kisu scrambled out of the melee, then said slyly, "In that case, I'll be _Lucario!_ Close Combat!!" she shouted, then lunged at her friend, attacking with her paws.

"Graaah!! Now Tyranitar is angry!!" Windblaze tried to roar, but it sounded too cute and squeaky for his liking and he decided to go with a slightly more intimidating growl.

"Hey, no fair!" Kisu protested. "Fighting-type moves are double super effective against Tyranitar!"

"What? If you're trying to say something, you're forgetting that Tyranitar don't have ears!"

"They do too! They- ACK!" Her protests were cut short by the Growlithe's Tackle.

"RAAWWR!! Rahh! Ha ha ha ha!" His roars turned to barks of joy, and soon both fox and dog Pokemon were soon rolling on the ground, yipping with laughter.

A gentle spring breeze ruffled the fiery manes of two Arcanine, looking on from a hill in the distance, black with the shadows of night. "They're growing up so fast," one murmured gently.

"Yes… I remember when Windblaze and the others hatched." Her mate sighed. "I wish this past winter had not been so harsh, else they would have been alive."

Silence ensued, then the Growlithe's mother noted, "Ah, but Soruno, without the cold snows of winter, we would not have found Kisu, and she is as wonderful a friend as any of Windblaze's littermates would be."

"True enough. And I am proud to have Windblaze as my son," his father rumbled. Both parents touched noses, and a rare smile appeared on their muzzles.

It seemed impossible that in a matter of seconds, all this would be torn away from them.

Gunshots blasted through the warm air, the bullets implanting themselves in the chest of the mother Arcanine and leaving a permanent expression of shock and agony etched on her face. She trembled once with a single paw raised, then collapsed and lay still.

"Hikomei!" Soruno cried. Bullets whizzed past him, and one managed to clip his ear. Ignoring the tremendous pain, he growled through clenched fangs, "No…NNOO!! WRRROAHH!!" Soruno's enraged roar echoed across the hills, challenging whomever dared murder his mate. A small explosion of dust before his paws told him his challenge had been accepted.

Nearly a third of a mile away, Windblaze's ears flared at the sound of his father's thunder. "Didjou hear that?" he whispered fearfully to his adopted sister.

"Y-yeah," Kisu shivered.

"It's my father! We have to go help him!"

With clumsy pup steps, they raced as fast as possible to the sound of the roar, only to find Soruno, silhouetted against the full moon, standing in front of the two young ones. He was bleeding heavily from wounds on his shoulders, flanks, and legs, as well as long scratches on his muzzle and back, presumably from rolling to dodge the fire from…

Facing the Arcanine was a gaunt man wearing sunglasses despite the darkness of night, bearing a long gun, and with his mouth twisted into a wicked grin: a Pokemon Hunter.

"Father?" Windblaze squeaked.

"Get _away_ from here, _now!_" Soruno snarled. The wind rippled his once-luxurious fur, now stained with crimson splotches. The Pokemon Hunter locked his gun into position, preparing to fire.

"But, f-father…" The Growlithe pup whimpered, flattening his ears, and Kisu took a step back.

"_GO!_"

In that instant, time seemed to blur. Soruno snapped at Windblaze and Kisu, driving them back, then, pelt ablaze with red fire, whirled to face the man. He was shot once, twice, thrice. He only faltered once. Then he charged, and with the last of his fading life struck the Hunter with a final Flare Blitz. And in that moment, the two young Pokemon's lives were shattered forever.

The man was obviously prepared, however, for though he was engulfed in the angry flames, only the impact seemed to hurt him. But it was enough.

"You heard him! Move!" Kisu jolted the mortified lion pup out of his conflicting emotions, and they ran headlong over hill after hill. "To the forest!" she shouted over the rush of air in their ears.

They didn't have long, that much was obvious. But they didn't know how little time they had until the booms echoed behind them. Windblaze yelped and picked up the pace in fear, dashing to and fro in random directions.

"Windblaze!" Kisu gasped, but it was too late. The Growlithe stumbled and fell to the ground. But it was not a bullet protruding from his side – it was a dart. He might still be alive, though she shuddered to think of what the man would do with her friend. With tears in her eyes, the golden Vulpix realized that the only way for either of them to survive was for her to flee, and then return for him as soon as the danger had passed.

"I promise I will come back for you. I swear it on the Nine-Tails Crest and the light of the moon," she wept, placing an oath upon her pride and the sacred item of all Vulpix and Ninetales. At the time, she did not know why she had included moonlight, but it seemed appropriate then.

As the Pokemon hunter stalked to the unmoving bodies of Hikomei, Soruno, and Windblaze, the kitsune Pokemon made it into the forest, safe at last.

"_I will search for you forever…"_

_

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_**Author's Note: Um... not much to say here. ...Reviews please? If you don't, you may find several household items torched by a stray Fire Blast from Windblaze... FEAR THE PUPPIES!! **XD

**EDIT: Whoa! While randomly searching for Ninetales pics to possibly use as my avatar, I found the picture of Light Ninetales from the Neo Destiny TCG set. And it's standing next to what looks _exactly_ like the edge of the forest I imagined would look like! Except Kisu is still a Vulpix at the time, and Shiny, but oh well!**


	2. Chapter One: Number 906

**A/N: Man, was this an interesting chapter! I got major writer's block, then got over it yesterday (July 6, 09), stayed up until 10:30 (PM) writing, woke up at 3:30 (AM) to keep working on it, then finally finished at 8:30 (AM) today (July 7)! That's four hours of sleep... *_* ...instead of my usual seven. =P Oh well, that's what authors do, right?**

**And thanks to these awesome members for reviewing: meta4life, The Cat's Eye Alchemist, DocGummy  
And these for faving: meta4life, The Cat's Eye Alchemist, DocGummy, Dawnmoon and Dusksun  
**

**The story may not seem AR (Alternate Reality) yet, but I bet some of you might be able to figure it out if you look closely for foreshadowing. *hint hint***

**I'm also trying to limit my comma and "..." usage, so tell me how I'm doing, please! =3 Do you like this style better? the last chapter's? do I need to cut down even more? can you even tell the difference? Please review!!  
**

**For disclaimer, see Prologue. 'Nuff said, on with the story!  
**

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**_Chapter One : Number 906_**

A young Arcanine awoke groggily to the sound of metal rattling against metal. He gathered his strength and staggered to the dented­­­­ iron bars that made up a fourth of his tiny prison to await the morning meal.

"Rise n' shine, 906!" a rough voice barked. "We gotta 'nother test for ya today, so eat up! You'll need to be at full power for this one."

"Arrrrr…!" the Arcanine – whom had learned to understand human speech - growled with revulsion. Nevertheless the usual paltry serving of brown pellets that could easily be mistaken for rocks clattered into a bowl that was thrust into a small opening in the cage. Normally he'd snap at the keeper's fleeting hand just to irk him, but this time the filthy-looking dog Pokemon felt too weary to even try.

Last night he'd tried to escape again. He failed as usual, and judging by his muddled senses this morning, they'd drugged him with the sleeping gas. It was nothing new, the Arcanine sighed to himself.

He loathed this place more and more every day of his twenty-nine years in it. If he wanted to, he could list about fifty reasons why, starting with the terrible food. Then there was the fact that his cage was smaller than two average-sized cardboard boxes put together.

Yet another was his new name: Number 906. What kind of a name was that? It sounded like something a Metagross would call himself – or herself. He didn't really know, since he'd never met one. But he did know his name was Windblaze and not some robotic name like 906.

The worst thing of all had to be the experiments, though. Even thinking about them made him shudder. Approximately once a week, he'd be released from his cage, only to be chained and taken to the Pokemon Hunter and his minions.

Sometimes it was just a simple test like activating his Flash Fire ability or using move X to demolish item Y. He had to admit he kind of liked the demolishing test. But it was a different story altogether when they tested on _him_.

Usually it was things like responding to stimuli such as Electric attacks (courtesy of the Hunter's Magnezone slave), branding a tag into his scarred right ear only to remove it the next night, or whether he would obey directions if he did this or that. Contrarily, if he didn't follow directions, he'd be either beaten or touched with an electric prod.

Once he had eaten, Windblaze folded his paws beneath him and tried to catch a few winks before today's torture began. After all, there was nothing else to do in the stupid fireproof enclosure – if one were to use such a generous word. Three hours' worth of restless sleep brought him into the afternoon, when he was awakened once more, this time by shouting outside his cage.

"Ge' up, 906! Up!" the keeper yelled, then proceeded to swiftly unlock the pen and slip chains around his neck and front legs.

Reluctantly, Windblaze complied, and continued to leap out of his prison, though he was snarling the whole time.

Whacking the Arcanine on his flank, the man grumbled, "Aw, shaddup, ya mangy dog!"

Windblaze whined and followed his keeper to yet another laboratory station, glad he hadn't been Tasered instead. The Pokemon Hunter was wearing his sunglasses as usual, and he had his two assistants beside him.

"You are dismissed," his cold voice said to the keeper. The man placed the chains in the palm of one of the assistants and left without a word. Windblaze's ears pricked as he listened to the door slam shut and the lock click into place.

"And as for you, Number 906… I have a question for you. Do you remember that golden Vulpix you used to play with when you were a pup?"

Memories flooded Windblaze's mind. The shining golden Vulpix with shimmering hazel eyes… he remembered her, all right. Kisu. With a pang of regret, he realized he had not thought of her since… The Arcanine frowned. He didn't know when he'd last worried about her, but he knew it was a long time ago. Now that he remembered her, he had to blink back tears.

"We have something special for you to do today. Actually, you don't have to do anything. Well, except jump on this table." He patted what looked like a gray examination table twice.

The Hunter knew he could understand him. In fact, he was the one that taught Windblaze to understand the human language in the first place. So there was no point in playing dumb. But something was more dangerous in his voice than usual. He almost sounded… _excited._ What was he so anxious about? The Arcanine wasn't sure he wanted to find out. But if he didn't obey, he'd be forced to. Indecision gnawed at his belly.

At last he began growling and backing away, then lurched against the chain leash so hard, it flew out of the surprised assistant's firm grip. Windblaze's gaze flicked from the locked door behind him to the Hunter.

"Oh? It seems someone wants to escape. Feel free to try. Though if I were you, I wouldn't. Remember how that went over last night?" The Hunter clucked his tongue in mock sympathy. "I suppose I'll just have to bring _this_ out again."

Seemingly out of thin air, a black gun appeared and leveled its muzzle with Windblaze's. The lion dog snarled and felt the tickle of flames in his throat before a Fire Blast exploded out of his maw. It was no use; it seemed the gun was fireproof, like all the Hunter's metal objects. And the Hunter himself was invincible as always. He never died.

"Say goodnight, 906."

Windblaze closed his eyes and heard the dart zoom through the air toward its target. A sharp pain in his head told him it had. Then he felt no more.

***

The Arcanine woke for the third time. Immediately pain came crashing into him like the surrounding steel walls. He was back in his cage. Shivering, he looked down at his chest, where most of the throbbing was felt. His fur was caked with dried blood.

Windblaze sat up and licked at his wound vigorously. He winced from the resulting sting but kept brushing his tongue over the salty red-brown crust until it had all but disappeared. Under it were white stitches, nearly invisible against his cream-colored fur.

_What did they do to me?_ Windblaze wondered. Then he remembered everything: his rebellion, the dart, the Hunter asking him about Kisu-

_Kisu!_ he cried in his head. Suddenly, he recalled all his past endeavors to escape, when he had just evolved, and was young and foolish. _I've forgotten the real reason I tried to escape. I was going to find Kisu…_

The black sorrow was choking him. He could not hold it inside any longer. Windblaze whimpered and set his ears flat against his bowed head. He swished his tail around his trembling paws. And then, as he closed his eyes, a tear leaked out from beneath each, and in a matter of time, fell as perfect spheres, only to burst against the cold metal floor. More dark marks soon splattered the steel.

"Why…" he wept in his own tongue. Nearly fourty-five minutes of Windblaze's plaintive lamentations later, he whispered three words.

In the ghost of a voice, he rasped, "I will escape."

Windblaze lifted his head and howled his defiance, wondering if somehow, someway, the Vulpix could hear his cry. "Kisooouuuuuuu!"

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**A/N: Yes, I know this chapter sucks. Now go review it and tell Windblaze how he's so unlucky to be written by such a horrible author.  
**

**Next chappy will be on the 17th, factoring in packing/moving, UNLESS I have too much or less packing/moving to do.  
**

**Oh, and if you don't review, I AM IN NO WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY BLOWN-UP FURNITURE!!**


	3. Chapter Two: Escape

**A/N: Okay, sorry for the disappointment, but although this chapter was supposed to contain the entire escape attempt, it was too long and had to be split in half. And I apologize for the long wait too, but you can't always get a hold of the Internet when you're on a roadtrip.**

**So here it is! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the story! **

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_Chapter Two: Escape_

Today was the day. Today, only fate could decide whether he would be freed or imprisoned once more.

Today, Windblaze was going to escape.

The night he had remembered Kisu, he had devised a plan. All his other attempts at freedom had been by chance: one of his manacles was loose, his keeper was distracted by another prisoner (what they liked to call a 'specimen'), or that one time all electricity was turned off – including lights and electric prods - when a searching helicopter passed over them… wherever they were. He wasn't sure, since the only places he had ever been, aside from his cramped cage, were all eighteen Test Rooms and the hallway leading up to them.

Except when he had gotten sick. One day in his second year, he was so depressed that he had come down with some kind of strange influenza that made him ill enough to be taken to the medical room, and treated with medicine that tasted about as good as bile and rancid meat mixed together, with the sourest Rawst Berries thrown in.

But though his memories of it may not have exactly encouraged him to return, the medical room did contain one thing all the others did not: a window.

It remained to be seen whether the window was fireproof or not, though, since it was a very old window (that no one bothered to replace, since most prisoners – including Windblaze, once he'd reached five years of age - had been altered to have immunities to sicknesses. If they did get very sick, they'd be taken to the medical room, no matter what type of Pokemon they were. So it seemed impossible that the rusty window would be resistant to all seventeen types.

So this time, Windblaze had a plan. He would stop eating and drinking for as long as it took to appear ill. He'd stay awake as long as possible, and let his fur go ungroomed. Once in the room, he could examine the window to find any possible methods of getting out.

After that, though, he would have to improvise. Windblaze knew nothing of this place's location, since he had been tranquilized when he was brought in. But it couldn't be helped; he'd probably never be let out, considering the Hunter appeared to be running some kind of criminal organization.

But Windblaze knew he had to get out, even if it cost him his life. And though he could not see the other captives, he'd try to free them as well. Perhaps he could compose a group and have an easier time escaping, or one of them had seen the world directly outside of the Hunter's base.

_If only Kisu was here,_ he thought. _Was she ever the cunning one… She would know how to plan this jailbreak better than I._

He fought against the tempting lull of sleep through the night, feeling his strength drain away. In the morning, the keeper came by, whistling a merry tune. _Must be pay day,_ the Arcanine muttered in his mind. At least the noise alerted him to duck down and pretend to sleep – mostly. He kept one eye cracked open and his ears flared.

The man leisurely filled Windblaze's bowl with pellets, unlocked the cage flap, shoved it in and withdrew his hand with the speed only years of experience could bestow – the white scars on his un-gloved knuckles proved that.

But instead of glancing at the wolflike Pokemon, let alone noticing his condition as Windblaze had hoped, the keeper simply passed him by, swinging his keys. _Damn. Now I'll have to get his attention the hard way._

Before the Arcanine could decide whether it would be safe to bark if he had been "sleeping" a few seconds earlier, a huge tremor shook the room. Windblaze yelped as his cage began to tilt, accelerating its speed until the world outside the bars flipped upside down. Suddenly, he was falling, then an impact –painfully jarred his bones and made him sprawl into a tangled heap of bristled fur.

He heard the crashes of other cages tumbling to the floor, and the panicked cries of other Pokemon. Windblaze guessed the keeper had not fared well, judging by a scream of pain and the crunch of a skull from somewhere in the background. Despite himself, the tiger dog grimaced.

Then he noticed the cage door beneath him. The lock had been smashed in the fall! One problem: the door was _under_ him. The only way to get out would be to keep hammering on one metal wall and tip it over. But he'd have to lever his own weight off the floor too, and on top of it all, it was nearly impossible to do so while everything was quaking.

He would have to wait. And every second brought the Hunter closer, one less second to escape, and one more second toward suffocation in the compressed space.

Windblaze's luck held. He managed through the earthquake, careful to keep his tongue tucked out of the way of his gnashing fangs and his claws far away from his body. He was still trembling even when the tremor had passed.

Surprisingly, silence ensued, until a loud resonance sounded from Windlbaze's cage. Using his shoulder as a battering ram, he kept attacking one wall with as much force as he could muster. It would have been hard enough to knock the heavy thing over, especially considering his weakened state, but to carry his own weight was impossible. There wasn't enough room to jump at it, but even if there was, it wouldn't do any good; he'd just land and tip it back over again.

It was too good to be true. He should have known. Of course, all of this planning and preparation, and now he was going to die. Panic jolted through him. He didn't want to die here! He wanted to live until the end of his days, and when the time came to join his fallen parents, he wanted to be free, beneath a bright blue sky. And more than anything, he wanted to see Kisu, one last time.

Renewed determination chased away his fear. He gritted his teeth, narrowed his eyes, flattened his ears. _I will escape! _ Windblaze backed up and tensed, hardening his muscles. "FOR KISU!!"he roared, and as if guided by an unseen force, slammed with all his might against the unforgiving metal.

To the Arcanine's pleasurable surprise, he succeeded. The cage teetered on its corner, but before it could fall back over, Windblaze attacked it again. Slowly, it lilted to the side. It increased its speed as it fell, at last settling into place with a satisfying _clang_.

He bolted out of the battered door like a streak of orange lightning. The room had cages strewn all over the floor. Those lucky enough not to have fallen had still been jostled on the stacks of other cages. A few tools were scattered about. Food pellets littered the ground and splashes of stagnant water had created puddles.

Apart from the puddles of water, or mixing with them, were splotches of red. Some Pokemon lucky enough to escape their prisons lay injured and bloody from the onslaught of objects. Others, like the keeper, were trapped beneath the cages. Those that hadn't been freed in the chaos were cowering in terror, for once almost welcoming the encasing metal walls. They looked at the lion dog with a mixture of anxiety and hope.

Windblaze wasted no time. He found the key ring near the keeper's cold body and snatched it up in his mouth. But it was useless; when he jammed the key he knew opened his neighbor's cage – a recent arrival called a Staryu – into the lock, his blunt jaws could not do something as refined as twisting a key.

From years of experience, the Arcanine knew gnawing was no good. He couldn't conjure up any ideas on how to free those who remained, and almost decided to escape alone – until he turned to the injured, gazing at him despairingly.

Suddenly, he pricked up his sensitive ears. A faint scratching sound was coming from inside a wall. After a moment's silence, a hesitant black nose twitched in a small hole he hadn't noticed before. A purple blur raced up to the tiger wolf's paws and saluted him with a tiny paw.

"Rivat Ratatta, atch yor service!" it said.

_Oh, joy._ Windblaze grumbled to himself. "Okay, great. Go get some fresh help! Tunnel through the walls or whatever, but we need some real fighters!"

The Rattata puffed himself up and squeaked shrilly, "Whattaya mean, '_real_ fighters'? I'm not real enough for ya? Well, I'll have you know, I'm the leader of the 45th Legion, the best tunnelers in alla Kanto! …Well, we were, until that dastardly, rotten, no-good, Darkrai-spawn, Kakuna-ridden-"

"Well, that's nice, but we're wasting time. Just do your tunneling thing so we can get those prisoners out!"

"Oh, is that all?" Rivat gave him a shrewd look. "Well then, no problemo!" He scrambled up a cage bar, and to Windblaze's immense surprise, bit the lock, cleaving it clean off! Seeing the Arcanine's stunned look, he bared his front fangs and scoffed, "How're these beauties for backup, eh? So much for real fighters!"

Windblaze grinned. "You're in."

While Rivat set to work, the lion dog stood guard. In a matter of minutes, every Pokemon in the holding room had been freed, including some of the Ratatta's comrades. There were easily one hundred captives, including the injured Pokemon. They were all looking at Windblaze expectantly.

"Everyone! Listen to me! _We are breaking out!_"

A roar of approval thundered from the former prisoners. He knew it would alert the Hunter. What did he care? Let him come!

"You will follow my orders without fail if you want to survive! We must unite or die!" The Arcanine motioned to the injured. "First order: help them! We do not leave anyone behind unless it is their will to stay. We need a head count, and some volunteers to carry the wounded. "

A muscular Charizard, bulky Venusaur, powerful Dragonite, and hulking Blastoise stepped forward. "We'll do it," said the fire dragon.

"Good. Are you sure you can move swiftly, though?"

"Yes." Blastoise growled.

"In that case… you! The Alakazam near the middle!"

The said Psychic Pokemon teleported next to the other four volunteers. "Yes? You wish me to perform the head count due to my high-caliber level of intelligence?"

"Er… yes."

Without even glancing at the menagerie of Pokemon, he declared, "One hundred and thirty-two."

"Thank you." All of a sudden, Windblaze flared his ears to an unnerving sound from somewhere outside the room. _Footsteps. Running. Coming closer. _they registered. _We have to leave now._

"Do we have permission to bust out of here?" Venusaur rumbled.

"Everyone! None of us has seen anything of this place other than this room, the testing rooms, and the medical room, right?"

There was a unanimous murmur of "No."

"Then yes, you have permission. Let's _MOVE!_"

Another roar boomed even louder than the first. The four volunteers gathered the injured onto their backs. Then all hundred and thirty-two charged toward the door.

The Hunter was standing right in front of them.

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**A/N: Dun dun DUNNN!!! Cliffhanger! :O**

I had a little too much fun writing Rivat. DON'T ASK about the name. I was planning on making him resemble a certain character, but he ended up resembling a different character instead. Cookies and a lick from Windblaze (not at the some time O_o) to anyone who guesses it! 

**Here's a hint: NO RESETTIN!!!!!111111!!1 D: D: D:**

**Review or Kisu will make you very sorry you didn't.  
**


	4. Chapter Three: Freedom

**A/N: Why are you reading this anyway? You have a cliffhanger to finish! Readreadread!**

_Chapter Three: Freedom_

He was the very image of menace. He was cloaked in his usual obsidian trench coat and black boots. This time he held a tranquilizing gun in each hand. His sunglasses glinted dangerously, daring them to make a move.

All the Pokemon were frozen with fear. Windblaze had to do something, and fast. He realized that maybe, it might just be worth losing his freedom and abandoning his own hopes and aspirations so that many more might have a chance at true life.

"_Run_!" he howled, and leaped at the Hunter like his father had, so many years ago. He heard the tramping of the one hundred and thirty-two, and hoped they'd escape. He braced himself for the spasm of pain before he fell unconscious. It never happened.

The Hunter smiled. And he did not shoot.

Instead of clamping his jaws around the man's throat, the Arcanine faltered and landed harmlessly before him. What was he doing? Did he perhaps, deep in the depths of his hardened heart, feel sympathy for the poor 'specimens' he'd captured?

That was a fatal mistake.

The Hunter grinned. Windblaze watched him as if in slow motion. Still gripping the guns, he moved them away from his body, pointed them at an Oddish and Aerodactyl, and twitched his index fingers, all in the span of a heartbeat.

_Look out!_ Windblaze cried, but the alarm had not yet left his mouth. The two were running, but slowly, so slowly. And the darts were faster. He could only watch, agonized, as the innocent Pokemon were taken down.

The Oddish gasped and it stumbled, lying very still. The Aerodactyl's wings jerked out and its eyes widened, then it began to spiral to the ground.

"_Look out!_" The warning tore from his lips all too late. Time began to flow once more in the Arcanine's eyes. A moment later, he would think it was speeding up. The Hunter strafed the hall with rapid darts. Despite the randomness, he had a deadly aim. The sparks from the guns' overexertion lit his face with a horrid glee, and his laugh echoed throughout the halls.

Panic exploded instantly. The Pokemon were screaming, falling. And there was no way out.

Windblaze managed to avoid the darts, at times pouncing onto the walls and springing off to dodge them. His own stamina despite his self-inflicted ordeal surprised him, but he had no time to worry over that now.

"Rivat?" he called amid the confusion.

The Ratatta had scurried up to him in a split second. "Need me? I'm afraid the 45th can't be of much assistance in th-"

"Go find Venusaur and the rest, now! Then report back to me!"

"Yessir!" He performed another salute, and then ran off once more.

A blast wracked the building. Instantly, Windblaze felt a blast of crisp, fresh air ruffle his pelt. _Yes! They must have destroyed the wall,_ he reasoned.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Arcanine glimpsed a streak of russet fur. Then the Pokemon landed. Six curled tails and wide hazel eyes could mean only one thing. He said it aloud.

"Vulpix," he breathed. "You're a Vulpix, Just like Kisu…"

Then he heard, _felt_ something terrible. The Hunter had cocked both guns.

_No! Not at her!_ he pleaded. As if bidden by his wishes, the two darts did the opposite.

It was unfair that she had to be recaptured. Although Kisu's fur was a different color, she had those same sparkling eyes…

Setting his teeth, he cried, "Extremespeed!" and dashed swiftly to skid in front of her, growling.

Suddenly, there was a _whoosh_ of air from behind them, and they were lifted off of the ground just in time. The darts pierced empty air.

"Are you okay?" a concerned voice asked.

Windblaze looked up, and realized they were being carried in the arms of the Dragonite who'd offered his service to help the wounded Pokemon escape. He had banked up out of the fray, and began to hover in place with a few powerful thrusts of tiny, ornamental-looking wings.

"Where are the injured Pokemon?" the lion wolf demanded.

"They're fine. What about you two? Are you hurt?" Dragonite insisted.

"No. But where are they?"

"They've escaped. They're free," he said wistfully. Though Windblaze couldn't read his mind, he knew what the dragon felt. It was the same tug as the one in his heart. _Free._

The Arcanine blinked. "What about the other three?"

"Blastoise just Hydro Cannoned a hole through the wall, and Venusaur's using Vine Whip to keep the security systems under control."

"And Charizard?"

His eyes swam with unshed tears. "Charizard… is down there. There's nothing we can do for him."

Windblaze looked on in horror as the brave dragon flew at the Hunter dead-on. Even when the dart pierced his chest, he kept flying, and didn't smash into the floor, spraying drops of blood from his broken jaw and chest, until he'd crushed both rifles between his teeth.

The fire dog's ears flattened sorrowfully. "Thank you, Charizard," he whispered, honoring the brave Pokemon's sacrifice.

The Hunter, however, looked unperturbed. His hands dipped into his pockets and reemerged with small, multicolored spheres between their fingers.

"What are those?" the Vulpix whimpered.

Dragonite shook his head. "I don't know."

The Hunter smirked. "Return."

All of a sudden, the balls' centers flashed, and sent jagged red beams of light toward the fallen Pokemon. The light engulfed all but the embedded darts, and then drew the Pokemon with it back into the spheres' cores, leaving the tranquilizers to clatter sickeningly to the floor.

Windblaze watched, stone-struck, as the Hunter laughed maniacally?, drawing more of the terrible things out of his trenchcoat and hurling them at the sleeping and fleeing alike.

The Pokemon were helpless to resist these strange objects, and one by one, were captured in the balls. Only one command was there left to give, and Windblaze delivered it with a reluctant heart.

"_Every Pokemon for himself!"_

He looked to Dragonite, swallowed his tears, and croaked. "There's nothing more we can do. Let's go."

Dragonite nodded and flew with heavy wingbeats out of the hole Blastoise had created. Windblaze could only hope the great turtle and dinosaur had escaped, and Rivat too.

Once they were miles away, Dragonite set the two Fire Pokemon gently on a grassy hill.

"Thank you, Dragonite."

"Thank you for giving me freedom." And with that he winged off into the paling rose sky.

_Freedom._ Was that what this was? Windblaze lowered his head away from the young Vulpix's sad gaze.

_So this is freedom?_

He looked into the distance from where he had come. _To be free is to be responsible for the enslavement of others? If that is so, I would rather be captive._

The Vulpix said quietly, "Thank you, Arcanine, sir. I will return to my family now." Though the fire lion knew she was trying to keep a solemn tone, she couldn't disguise the joy in her eyes. He envied her. He wished he had a family to return to.

"Are you sure you know where they are?" he asked.

She nodded and pointed a paw toward an unusual-looking tree. "In the den beneath the Twisted Oak."

"Okay." He licked her on the head as his parents had licked him for good luck once, and then said, "Be safe, little one."

Trotting away, she called over her shoulder, "I will, I promise," then vanished on the far side of the hill.

Windblaze sighed and dragged himself to his paws, feeling more like the old, half-starved Arcanine of a few hours ago than ever before. His thick fur, filthy as it was, rippled in the wind.

_I left the others to a fate far worse than death in the clutches of the Hunter. But I am free._

He growled, "Can you hear me, Hunter?" Then the Arcanine dug his claws into the rich soil, raised his head, and roared, "_I'm free!_"

He whipped around and sprinted into the rising dawn.

**A/N: Strafe the halls with rapid da-arts, fa-la-la-la-la, la la la la! 'Tis the summer to be jolly, fa-la-la-la-la, la la la la! Now it's time for your review, fa-la-la, fa-la-la, la la la! Else an Absol will come eat you, fa-la-la-la la, la la la la! ^^**

**Also, does _no one_ know Rivat's alter ego?? They even start with the same letter!**

**And btw, check my profile, I'm not on a roadtrip anymore but I still might not be able to update.  
**


	5. Chapter Four: Grassland

**A/N: The most boring chapter is also the longest. How lucky you are. :P Even I couldn't deal with the original draft's dullness, so I decided to spice it up a bit by foreshadowing a great deal more, and by bringing a character into the story who I originally planned on introducing in the next chapter.**

**Well, anyway, enjoy!**

_Chapter Four: Grassland_

Windblaze awoke to a soothing breeze gently ruffling his fur. Blinking drowsily, he lifted his head off of his crossed paws. A voice emanated from somewhere.

"You have done well, Windblaze," it rasped softly in his ear.

He frowned. "Kisu…?"

Her laugh was as the resonance of chiming bells, echoing in his mind.

"Catch me if you can!" The mirthful tones began to fade away.

"No! Wait! I need you! Where are you?" He sprang to his paws and pursued the ebbing sound across the endless landscape that was his dream. But like most dreams, he received no response. Eventually, all dissolved into black.

Blank hours of vertiginous hallucinations later, he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, and wiped the grogginess from his mind with a rough shake of his head. The Arcanine yawned and reached his front paws out to bow in a typical dog-like stretch.

He nosed his way past the tangled web of twigs and leaves that constituted the shrub he had been sleeping in, wincing as they snagged in his fur, and peered outside.

_Nearly nightfall,_ Windblaze remarked of the dimming evening light.

_I don't know what to do now. Should I try to find a home around here?_ he thought hopefully, then sighed. _That's a lie. The Hunter will find me before long, and not moving on will only make it easier for him. But… if I keep running, where will that get me? And even if I manage to evade him, where will I go?_

Memories of his dream rushed into his active mind. Immediately he knew the answer to his own question.

_I'll find Kisu. I _must_ find her, before it's too late._ His eyes narrowed.

Windblaze twisted his head to the setting sun. _I know the Hunter will have as little trouble as I do, crossing… wherever I am… during day or night. So all that remains is to decide when to travel._ He lifted a hind paw and scratched an ear. _Oh, and scout out where the hell I am, anyway._

Planning things out set aside the unease and guilt inside him for now, though he suspected he'd still have nightmares about the escape for years to come.

He shook the thoughts away and swept his gaze around him. Rolling hills of dry grass greeted his vision, broken by the occasional bush. It appeared he was in a scrubland. _Location: check. Now to tackle the other problems. _

After thinking for a while, he came to a conclusion. _I feel safer at night,_ he decided. _Besides, I can't hang around her much longer. I don't know where Kisu is, though._

Suddenly, as if bidden so, Windblaze looked to the darkening sky. The first star had appeared.

_Brightstar,_ he realized, remembering his parents' tale of the competition between Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. Suicune's contribution to the contest had been Brightstar, which would always point travelers to the north.

If he was a young orphaned Vulpix, alone, lost, and scared, and searching for some sort of guidance…

The lion dog ducked his head and shoulders back into the bush and waited for twilight.

***

When he looked outside around thirty minutes later, the sky had changed to a blackish purple tone, and stars dotted the sky as if someone had plunged into liquid silver, and the resulting splash had sprayed the shining drops across the heavens. But one star shone brighter than all the others. "Time to leave," Windblaze muttered to himself.

He hunted quickly, but found nothing more than a mouse. Despite being cooped up for years, he managed to catch it, although it was a meager meal at best.

After eating, the Arcanine set his course and departed.

He ran without boundaries. His paws pounded on the coarse grass, the wind whipped his cream mane, and his heart lifted. This was what he was born to do. He'd never felt so exhilarated in his life.

Eventually, the hills began to melt away, and the scrub disappeared in place of more grass. The flat terrain stretched as far as the eye could see, and then some.

Windblaze thought he would never tire of dashing across the endless prairie, but eventually, after running for nearly an hour, he noticed his paws were feeling sore, and his chest seemed to be cramping. As soon as he stopped to look at what was bothering him, exhaustion crashed down like a mighty wave.

He flopped down in the grass, panting, and twisted a paw so the underside was facing toward him. The black pads were now scratched up, red and sticky with dirtied blood. The rough grass had left its mark on his paws, and worse, a trail for the Hunter to follow.

The Arcanine licked them clean, cursing his ignorance. _Now what?_ he thought. _I can't keep running through this grass if it will give me away._ Windblaze looked around. _But there's no other place _to _run. These plains go on forever._

He sighed, turned his head to the north, and gazed up at Brightstar. "Where do I go now, Kisu?" He didn't expect an answer, and didn't get one. But as he lowered his head, he noticed something.

Far, far on the horizon were many stars, all twinkling brightly. But no… those couldn't be _stars_. What were they?

He blinked to make sure they were really there, then squinted to ensure his eyes were not deceiving him. But his senses had not betrayed him.

One thing was clear: he should go toward the not-stars. They were only diverging a fraction from his northern path, and his curiosity was getting the better of him.

But they were about another night's journey away, and that was assuming he could somehow find a way to stop the bleeding. Windblaze whined, lowering his ears and setting his head on the ground. He needed to go before the Hunter found him. But if he left, the Hunter would find him sooner.

The tiger dog lay there for precious minutes and thought of what he should do. He growled his hatred of the Hunter, then reluctantly got to his feet and loped toward the not-stars.

***

"We've brought you the traitor, boss."

They waited in silent anticipation: dark forms lurking in the shadows, encircling a lone circle of light.

They watched, eyes gleaming, as a young boy, no more than eight years old, was thrust roughly into their midst. The circle illuminated his frightened features like a spotlight.

"Good. And you understand what would have surpassed if you did not?"

"Y-yes," the voice gulped.

The other voice snarled, "Yes, _what?!_"

"Yes, boss!" it squeaked.

"_LOUDER!_"

"_Yes, boss!_"

***

The dawn chorus was beginning to sweetly play in Windblaze's ears. The black darkness had begun to pale. His body pleaded for sleep.

The Arcanine trotted on, looking for somewhere to rest. To his pleasure, he spotted something he hadn't seen for what seemed like ages: a tree. But it wasn't just one tree. A small forest of trees, neatly lined up in rows, welcomed him with outstretching branches.

Windblaze sprinted into the center, curled up near one's base, and attempted to sleep. But to his surprise, despite his exhaustion, he could not. The trees were spread apart, and the wind, which he had loved so dearly while running, was now chilling him to the bone.

The lion wolf frowned. This wasn't right. A real forest, like the one he'd lived in before, would have shielded him from the wind. Shivering, he looked for another place to hide.

Just past the fake forest was something peculiar. The Arcanine yawned and walked cautiously up to it. It was a huge box-like structure with a pointed top, big enough to hold around fifty-one Snorlax piled up.

He staggered wearily up to it, and to his relief, one of two large twin doors that he assumed was the entrance were slightly ajar. Windblaze slipped a fumbling paw in the crack and pulled it open. Inside was a large, lofty room, with hay littering the floor, and long metal poles with strangely shaped ends caked in mud strewn randomly every now and then.

If he hadn't been so tired, the Arcanine would have probably noticed the smell of humans and turned this place down. But inside the structure and in his fur seeped something that Windblaze couldn't refuse: heat.

Sheltered from the gusts outside, and left to warm up through the sunny day, the lion dog thought he'd never felt so relieved to find a place to rest.

It didn't take long for Windblaze to nestle into the straw and fall asleep.

***

A murmur flickered through the Arcanine's consciousness. He lazily opened one eye. Nothing. He closed it again.

Once more he heard a low undertone. The tiger wolf pressed his ears to his head.

It came again. Now it was starting to get annoying, like a fly buzzing around his head – a fly he couldn't flick away. Windblaze growled loudly in exasperation.

The voice hissed sharply, "Shh!" and went quiet.

_Finally,_ he sighed sleepily in his mind, and relaxed again.

After around five timeless minutes of sleep, he was interrupted yet again by another set of doors on the opposite side creaking open. This time, he didn't even twitch.

"_Mangy dog!_" someone screeched. Windblaze's eyes snapped open just in time to see a flash of an image: an older man standing in front of him and another lady he assumed was his wife behind him. There was one problem. The man was holding aloft a bucket of water.

Instantly the Fire Pokemon was drenched. Water ran down his muzzle and flanks in rivulets, and his underbelly was dripping. The dampness made his fur plastered tightly against his body, outlining his every bone.

Curling his lips to display his knife-like fangs, Windblaze slowly got to his paws. A low rumble thundered in his throat and chest.

The pail thudded dully against the old wood floor. The man was slowly backing away, and the woman was shaking violently.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what is t-that thing?" she whimpered, scarcely able to form a coherent sentence.

The man managed to choke out, "It's… a… a… Poke… Pokemo… n-n…"

Now _that_ was an insult. Mistaking him for a filthy, common _dog?!_ Windblaze snarled. "No, duh! What do you take me for?! Pah! Idiotic humans!"

"It's gonna attack!" the lady shrieked. "Run!"

Both humans zoomed out the door faster than a Pachirisu to an acorn.

The Arcanine cocked his head, spraying drops of water. What did he do? He had been annoyed at their calling him a _dog_, but he didn't hurt them, he was just expressing his feelings.

Suddenly, a click signaled something other than his head being cocked. Just in time, Windblaze yelped and tore out through the open door he'd entered through, bullets blasting at his heels.

He kept running at Extremespeed, and didn't look back (or forward, for that matter) until he began to grow weary again.

Panting, he bounded up a tall hill and sat there to catch his breath. _…Hill?_ For the first time, the Arcanine took in his surroundings. It was night, which, coupled with his relatively moderate energy, meant he had been awoken in the afternoon and had been running until dusk. The hills and trees had returned. And in front of him…

A smile broke out on his muzzle. He had reached the place of not-stars.

***

"And now, to dispose of this traitor once and for all."

The boy's eyes swam with unshed tears, held back by fear alone. "H-help!"

One figure, standing taller than all the others, stalked out from the shadows.

Its red eyes glowed. "_This_ is for your treachery."

A scream shattered the night. Blood spattered on the ground.

"And _this_ is for the treachery of all your species."

This time there was only silence.

"Hear me, my loyal minions! The enemy will soon taste the raging claws of our revenge! _All humans will be destroyed!_"

A haunting chorus rose to the sky.

**A/N: It turned out a lot darker than I'd expected, but oh well. I added something to the character's past that I hadn't thought of before….**

**Have you ever had a story write itself? This one definitely has a mind of its own. **

**I mean, I have no idea why I even thought of it. I hadn't thought of Arcanine or Ninetales to any depth recently before deciding to write this fic. **

**All of a sudden my mind just said, "Hey! Let's write a fanfic about *mind rolls wheel of random characters* *lands on Arcanine* …umm… maybe Arcanine! And… *wheel of random characters lands on Ninetales* Ninetales too! And it will be a… *wheel of random fic categories lands on "pairing"* …er, how about a pairing fic!"**

**And I've literally been making up this story as I go along. I've never done that before. I've always had some sort of basic plotline at the very least. This time the wheel of random ideas just went crazy.**

**Example:**

*****

**Me: Okay, so the Growlithe and Vulpix are playing. We need some kind of reason there's a Vulpix in a family of Arcanine and Growlithe!**

**Random Mind Wheel: …ORPHAN**

**Me: Okay! *writes some* Aaand, now we need a bad guy.**

**Random Mind Wheel: …POKEMON HUNTER**

**Me: Good idea! *writes more* He has to have some kind of unusual trait.**

**Random Mind Wheel: …WEARING SUNGLASSES AT ALL TIMES**

**Me: All right! *writes even more* Y'know, I've been thinking, there should be some kind of plot twist involving --CLASSIFIED-- and then -–CLASSIFIED—**

**Secret Plot Devices Wheel That You Can't Read! Na na na na na na! (just kidding): …--CLASSIFIED—**

**Me, mid-Chapter One: OMG. I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING. THIS MAY BE ONE OF THE STRANGEST PLOT TWISTS IN THE HISTORY OF .**

**Me, two sentences later: No. THIS is.**

*****

**So, yeah. I'd better stop this before it goes on too long. And if you don't review… *Random Mind Wheel stops on the Hunter* Erm… the Hunter will shoot you with enough darts to make you sleep through the next century! So review please!**

**PS. Oh, and don't ask about the mythology. I just had to add in something like that. ;)**


	6. Chapter Six: City

_Chapter Five: City_

**A/N: This relatively short chapter took a while for four reasons: **

**1. School, **

**2. I was playing with an alternate plotline in this chapter to make it more plot-twisty and such, and while the other idea I had would have been much better, for the life of me, I could not find a way to fit it in without also adding a major plot hole that would make the chapter a lot worse overall, **

**3. Getting sidetracked with AMVs ^^; Sorry about that,**

**4. Writer's block in general. **

**Well, enjoy anyway! Hopefully I'll start posting faster again.  
**

Claws clacked rhythmically against the cold black-rock path. Windblaze growled nervously. This place sent shivers coursing down his back. It reeked of humans and toxic fumes and possibly of blood.

As it turned out, the not-stars were a cluster of human lights. Why the diurnal creatures needed light during the night - and for that matter, were not content with the moonlight and drowning it with their own - was a mystery to him. The Arcanine figured, judging by this strange metal forest, that they just liked building things to show off. He slept in bushes. Why not the silly humans?

Shrugging off his pointless queries, the Fire Pokemon kept walking down the strange-smelling alley. For there was one more scent that caught his interest: food. Windblaze's bones were beginning to become more pronounced on a now-gaunt frame. The mouse had been nothing more than a snack, and he was starving.

He kept his head low and snuffled the ground, padding forward on the unwinding trail. It was hard to pick up the smell with all the conflicting ones. Once he lost it, but luckily a slight breeze blew downwind of his sensitive nose, carrying the greasy, salty smell to him and making his mouth water.

Trotting briskly now, he saw the source of the scent: a strange metal cylinder at the corner of two perpendicular alleys in the shape of a right angle. And to his delight, not just the good-smelling stuff, but lots of other food besides, filled it to the brim.

Without hesitation, Windblaze recklessly knocked the thing over, spilling its contents before his eager paws. He tucked in, oblivious to everything but the delicious food. As it turned out, the salty stuff was a container of crispy yellow sticks. He even found some remaining meat on a bird bone, and snapped that up too.

Had the Arcanine been keeping an eye on his surroundings, he would have seen four pairs of red eyes closing in around him.

"Hey, you!" one said. The fire wolf lifted his head. Four vicious-looking Houndour were blocking the two alleys.

Windblaze did not bristle, but subtly bared a long, curved fang. "Yes? What do you want?"

Another growled, "We want you outta _our_ food."

"I find that hard to believe, seeing as you're blocking the only exits."

"Ha! This one's got nerve," said a rough, yet distinctly feminine voice. "No. We want to get out of our grub _forever_."

"Are you asking for a fight?" the lion dog demanded.

"I believe we are," the fourth one said smoothly, his voice dripping with contempt.

Windblaze readied his pounce, lowering his torso to the ground, one paw stretched farther than the other. "Then LET'S GO!"

Faster than they could react, he leaped forward, shouting, "Crunch!" His fangs clamped down on the first Houndour's shoulders twice. He yelped and twisted away, but his comrades took up the counterattack.

"Dig!" the fourth shouted.

"Shadow Claw!" snarled the third.

The second cried, "Flamethrower!"

Windblaze smirked. He leaped away from the Shadow Claw in the nick of time. Before she could react, he charged headlong into the rushing flames and tackled the user. He went flying into another metal cylinder and fainted.

The fourth Houndour broke out from underground next to where the second was seconds ago, reprimanding him with roars of, "No, fool! You made him STRON…ger…" Suddenly, he realized what had just happened.

"Oh, sh-" The Arcanine, ablaze and glowing with red light, greeted him with a Fire Blast to his face. The Houndour went down for the count.

But now it was Windblaze's turn to be caught off-guard – the third Houndour had whirled around and scored his flank with another Shadow Claw. His journey had weakened him, and he recoiled from the pain.

It wasn't long before the first Houndour joined in, and the two battered him screaming to the ground with tooth and claw.

The wounds were shallow, but excruciatingly painful all the same, like knives slashing open his skin everywhere they touched. He kept trying to get up, but to no avail. Once he managed to Dragon Pulse one Houndour off, but the lion dog's own blood made the ground slick and he lost his footing, then they were on him again.

His writhing began to diminish into spasms, then twitches. The injuries, previously were melding into a constant, rhythmic thrum of pain. Blood trickling down his face blinded his vision, but soon even the redness was fading to black.

"_Halt!_"

The waves of pain were so strong, he couldn't tell the Houndour had stopped.

"What… are… you… doing?" The words were separated by stretches of silence that emphasized each.

There were faint whimpers from the Houndour.

Windblaze drew in a deep, shivering breath, fighting to remain conscious.

"He is not to be harmed. I've kept a close eye on him. He's not our enemy. So why did you attack?!"

"W-we're sorry, b-"

There was a _whoosh_ of air and two scarcely audible footfalls, and suddenly, a couple of ivory paws with thick black claws had appeared in front of the inured fire wolf.

Managing to lift his head off the ground, he saw ruffled yet meticulously groomed white fur, a dark, intelligent-looking canine- or feline-esque face, and a black, blade-like horn and an ebony gem on its head to match: an Absol.

"They call me Jan."

**A/N: Now you know who Jan is. ^^**

**And yeah, I know "the first Houndour," "the second Houndour," etc. was repetitive, but I didn't know of any alternatives. Reviews would be appreciated for writing tips. **

**Plus if you don't, the Houndour will come and Flamethrower you. Unless you happen to possess a Flash Fire ability (or a very ticked-off Arcanine), I would review. :3**

**(BTW, I don't hate Houndour/Houndoom!! I think they're really cool, actually! They just make very good villains.)  
**


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